A local Trinamul Congress leader was arrested by the Moyna police on Wednesday night in connection with the alleged murder of BJP leader Bijoy Krishna Bhuina, whose body was recovered late on Monday night.

The arrest of Milan Bhowmik, a member of the local village panchayat, is the first in this case. An FIR has been registered against 34 persons.

“The court has ordered 14 days in police custody for accused Milan Bhowmik, who was arrested by the investigating officer of the Moyna police station,” said public prosecutor Safiul Ali Khan.

According to police sources, Bhowmik was arrested from his daughter’s residence at Bolaponda in Moyna.

However, the accused rejected all the allegations against him. “I am a victim of political conspiracy,” Bhowmik said while being taken to the court.

“I was not at the place of occurrence during the incident, yet I’ve been arrested,” he added.

Bhuina’s wife Lakshmi, a witness in the case, claimed that her husband, who was the BJP’s booth president in Moyna, was lynched in front of her on Monday evening. She filed a complaint with the police naming 34 persons, including Bhowmik. She had alleged Bhowmik was indirectly involved in the murder.

However, the son of the deceased claimed that the police action was a bid to counter the family’s demand for a CBI probe into the case.

A case has been filed at Calcutta High Court by the family, which is seeking an investigation into the alleged murder by the central agency.

On Wednesday, the court had ordered a fresh post-mortem of Bhuina’s body and had asked the state police to arrange for the transfer of the corpse from Tamluk to Calcutta.

The body was brought to Calcutta’s Eastern Command Hospital where a second autopsy was done on the deceased. The process was videographed following court orders.

The BJP’s Nandigram MLA and leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari led a rally in Moyna to protest Bhuina’s alleged murder. He was accompanied by local BJP MLA Ashok Dinda and other party workers.

Adhikari lashed out against local Trinamul leaders and police officers accusing them of being involved in Bhuina’s murder.

“Your predicament will be like Anubrata Mondal,” Adhikari said taking a dig at Trinamul leader Sheikh Sahajahan, whom he claimed was involved in killing the BJP leader.

“He (Mondal) is now in Tihar jail. I do what I say. It might get delayed at times but it happens,” Adhikari added.

He also took a dig at chief minister Mamata Banerjee and said she was spreading lies by saying that the Centre was setting up detention centres in the state in a bid to implement the NRC.

“Where are these detention centres being set up? The chief minister will have to prove. If she cannot do that I will file a defamation case against her,” he said.

Arun Halder, the chair of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, visited Moyna on Thursday. Bhuina was a member of the Scheduled Caste community.

Halder alleged the district superintendent of police was not available to meet him.“The police are trying to demean the SC Commission,” he claimed.